# How can people on ebay feel they can charge



## Mitch (Oct 2, 2009)

over $10 for shipping. That is so crazy. I won't ever buy anything if someone charges more than $6 shipping for a pipe. I feel if they think they are going to make money on shipping they can keep there item. Today I shipped 5 tins of tobaccy with confirmation for $6. Crazy people. :target:


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

I use to sell on Ebay years ago and attended seminars on how to sell anything. One of the things they use tell people was to charge more for S/H because you can get it...everybody knows that S/H does not cost as much as it is supposed to but EBAY sellers are notorious for doubling the charge...because they know people will pay for it. When I go on there I always ask them if they will ship to me on an accurate USPS mailing and not what they are putting on the auction. Sometimes they will do it while most won't. I don't buy from them because I know they are being unscrupulous.


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## Team Fuente (Jul 8, 2007)

Mitch said:


> over $10 for shipping. That is so crazy. I won't ever buy anything if someone charges more than $6 shipping for a pipe. I feel if they think they are going to make money on shipping they can keep there item. Today I shipped 5 tins of tobaccy with confirmation for $6. Crazy people. :target:


:amen: any dirt ball that thinks we can squeeze 6 extra bucks when a flat rate box is only 4.50 is fluffin crazy! As my grandma would tell them "shove up your giggy!!'' bless you gam gam:angel:


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## thebayratt (Jun 4, 2009)

No kiddn'!!

I understand tryin to make an extra buck, but 4 or 5....... _c'mon_!
I just got a el-cheapo cob from frikn China that had free shipping!!! *FREE*

I won't overpay on shipping.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

I don't expect the shipping charge to equal the postage cost, but yeah, some people go overboard. I don't mind it being crooked, I just resent the insulting-my-intelligence factor.


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## quincy627 (Jul 2, 2010)

It is true there are saints and sinners all over Ebay. The best practice is simply don't bid or be prepared to eat it. I know, it sucks and it is criminal but every once in a while something shows up that you just can't live without. I guess it comes down to sticking to principals or biting the bullet.
:dunno:


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## ChronoB (Nov 4, 2007)

Mitch said:


> over $10 for shipping. That is so crazy. I won't ever buy anything if someone charges more than $6 shipping for a pipe. I feel if they think they are going to make money on shipping they can keep there item. Today I shipped 5 tins of tobaccy with confirmation for $6. Crazy people. :target:


If someone charges more than $8.00 for s/h on a pipe, I don't bid on it. If someone charges more than $6.00 for s/h a tin, I don't bid on it. I've sold pipes on ebay, and I never charge more than $7.00 for s/h (and my packaging kicks arse). $10 is off the charts.


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## CWL (Mar 25, 2010)

I always look at postage before even considering anything on eBay. If it is unreasonable, then I don't bid, or if it is something that I really want (not need), then I include that as part of my total cost of acquisition and adjust my highest bid accordingly.

Sometimes, having an unreasonable S&H cost actually helps to limit the number of bidders you may need to compete with.


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## Mitch (Oct 2, 2009)

quincy627 said:


> It is true there are saints and sinners all over Ebay. The best practice is simply don't bid or be prepared to eat it. I know, it sucks and it is criminal but every once in a while something shows up that you just can't live without. I guess it comes down to sticking to principals or biting the bullet.
> :dunno:


I will still buy stuff from people on ebay, if shipping is decent. If shipping is high, I will not buy the product, no matter how much I like it. I found something I really liked, but they charged $10 shipping. So I let the auction go, watched it, and they never sold it :roll:


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## Mitch (Oct 2, 2009)

I just saw guys who were charging $35 to ship a pipe overseas. How stupid. I just shipped a cable scanner for $11 confirmed to Australia. What a joke people.


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## Brinson (Oct 28, 2007)

Its my understanding that its a byproduct of ebay's policies. They charge you a listing fee based on the amount the item sells for. 

So if they sell the item for $20 with $3 shipping, ebay takes out of the $20.

But if they sell an item for $3 with $20 shipping ebay takes a percent of the $3.

So they essentially squeeze money from ebay.

*shrugs*

I also agree its ridiculous, and don't buy from sellers with high shipping, either.


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## Mitch (Oct 2, 2009)

CWL said:


> I always look at postage before even considering anything on eBay. If it is unreasonable, then I don't bid, or if it is something that I really want (not need), then I include that as part of my total cost of acquisition and adjust my highest bid accordingly.
> 
> Sometimes, having an unreasonable S&H cost actually helps to limit the number of bidders you may need to compete with.


+1, I will do that also.


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## Mitch (Oct 2, 2009)

Brinson said:


> Its my understanding that its a byproduct of ebay's policies. They charge you a listing fee based on the amount the item sells for.
> 
> So if they sell the item for $20 with $3 shipping, ebay takes out of the $20.
> 
> ...


lol, now this makes sense to me, and I can respect that. Still wont pay it though


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## GlassEye (Oct 25, 2009)

I always subtract the shipping cost from what I am willing to pay, so I basically do not pay any extra than I would without the ridiculous shipping charge.


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## Jack Straw (Nov 20, 2008)

I think it's actually against ebay policy for them to charge more than actual shipping. I remember hearing about it a few years ago. If I recall, when the package shows up if the shipping is not as quoted you may have some sort of recourse. Personally I just factor it into the cost of the pipe. If it's still a good deal, it's still a good deal.


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## Mitch (Oct 2, 2009)

The thing I have noticed, if a item is hot, the shipping will be really high. They probably figure people will pay it anyway, so why not make some extra on top.


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## CWL (Mar 25, 2010)

Brinson said:


> Its my understanding that its a byproduct of ebay's policies. They charge you a listing fee based on the amount the item sells for.
> 
> So if they sell the item for $20 with $3 shipping, ebay takes out of the $20.
> 
> ...


Yeah, there used to be lots of people selling stuff out of Asia for $.99 each ... but shipping would be $29.95. Dunno if eBay put a stop to that.


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## gibson_es (Jan 23, 2010)

i always figured the idea behind it was that they hope you go

holy shit, a $100 pipe for $40, hell ya! 

and, being shocked by the price, they hope you dont notice the shipping until its to late, i know now i check shipping everytime, but one time, long time ago, when i first started bying off of ebay, i found a cable i needed for a buck, and right before buying my dad came by and reminded me to check the shipping, good thing, it was like $20 for a damn computer cable....... i started checking ever sense.


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## Nurse_Maduro (Oct 23, 2008)

It's not just eBay, either. What gets my goat is Amazon resellers. I used to buy a ton of used CDs, and the S&H was always $3.99, no matter who the seller was. When my son got a PSP, I figured I'd grab some games off there, until I found out that the S&H wasn't under $12.99! For games that weigh less than a CD! Not only that, but most of the sellers of games weren't even other users, they were B&M stores. :mad2:

I don't mind paying heavy S&H if it's a rare item, or an import, but otherwise, I vote with my wallet. The nice thing about the internet is that you can almost always find it cheaper somewhere else.


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## dmkerr (Oct 27, 2008)

Nurse_Maduro said:


> It's not just eBay, either. What gets my goat is Amazon resellers. I used to buy a ton of used CDs, and the S&H was always $3.99, no matter who the seller was. When my son got a PSP, I figured I'd grab some games off there, until I found out that the S&H wasn't under $12.99! For games that weigh less than a CD! Not only that, but most of the sellers of games weren't even other users, they were B&M stores. :mad2:


Odd. I'm an Amazon reseller of CD's and an occasional DVD. Amazon sets the shipping amount (always $2.99). I couldn't charge more if I wanted to (which I don't - $2.99 adequately covers postage, bubble envelope, etc). Not doubting your word, just saying that it seems bizarre that Amazon would allow a seller to set the shipping price. None of the A'zon sellers I know have that luxury.

Relative to the OP, I guess we all vote with our wallets. If the shipping cost is too high, we can abstain. On the other hand, a fair number of, say, $300 pipes get sold for $200, as an example. So before I worry about high shipping costs, I'm going to take into account the kind of deal I can get on a high dollar piece. As another poster mentioned, I'll factor the shipping cost into my highest bid.

Quite honestly, I have never once refused to bid based on obnoxious shipping costs. If it's $5 too high in my opinion, my highest bid is $5 lower than it would normally be.


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## x6ftundx (Jul 31, 2008)

yeah but look at it on the sellers point of view. for example though I am not the ones that charge 5 dollars extra I do charge 2-3 dollars extra. I use a bubble wrapper envelope (1.25) plus bubble wrap (.50) on top of that and I have to go to the post office to mail them (2 bucks in gas and 20 minutes out of my way) since my nice mail carrier likes to squish things. So I can see some people trying to get 4-5 dollars extra. If Ebay would say shipping plus extra BS then I think people would understand easier. But I do agree it's kinda crazy sometimes.


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## Mante (Dec 25, 2009)

Simple really. Figure out what you are willing to pay & take the postage out, bid accordingly. I dont sell like this as I refund the difference in cash in the package but there is no point getting all pissed off at what the sellers charge. The choice to buy or not is up to you when you bid.:tsk:


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## Nurse_Maduro (Oct 23, 2008)

dmkerr said:


> Odd. I'm an Amazon reseller of CD's and an occasional DVD. Amazon sets the shipping amount (always $2.99). I couldn't charge more if I wanted to (which I don't - $2.99 adequately covers postage, bubble envelope, etc). Not doubting your word, just saying that it seems bizarre that Amazon would allow a seller to set the shipping price. None of the A'zon sellers I know have that luxury.


Sorry, you are absolutely right; I hit the '3' instead of the '2'.

If you look at items other than CDs though, you'll see the S&H is all over the place, even within the same category. It's weird.


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## rob51461 (Aug 19, 2010)

from a sellers perspective you try to make what you can where you can. the costs of gas, ink ,paper for shipping costs $ I jump into my Dodge Ram and drive 3miles to the post office i figure $1.25 per mile plus $.50 for supplies then actual shipping costs, so s&h would be around $10.25. Rember that ebay wacks the seller with a 8% fee and then PP gets their %. On the China issue I used to buy jerseys and have them autographed as my ebay thing they "free shipping" but a $25 jersey costs them about $3 so your pipe with free shipping cost them abot $.50


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## Habano (Jul 5, 2010)

I totally agree. Regardless of the item people try and rip you off on shipping. I see it some many times where a $50 item has a buy it now for $15 bucks, then they charge you $45 to ship it. So stupid.


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## plexiprs (Nov 18, 2005)

$10?? Hell, that's a deal in some areas. Try $30 for a wristwatch ...... within the US!!!

Shipping and handling ..... handling aka MORE PROFIT ...... I tend to look for Sellers who offer free shipping cause they are many ....... and seem to be under-appreciated ......


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## Granger (Jul 24, 2010)

There was a seller, who has disappeared in the past year, that sold Meerschaum Pipes that way. They were good pipes, I liked both I bought, but his shipping was $50, while the pipes were listed as BUY IT NOW for 15.00.

I didn't mind paying $65.00 for those pipes. They were a STEAL!



Brinson said:


> Its my understanding that its a byproduct of ebay's policies. They charge you a listing fee based on the amount the item sells for.
> 
> So if they sell the item for $20 with $3 shipping, ebay takes out of the $20.
> 
> ...


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## dmkerr (Oct 27, 2008)

Tashaz said:


> Simple really. Figure out what you are willing to pay & take the postage out, bid accordingly. I dont sell like this as I refund the difference in cash in the package but there is no point getting all pissed off at what the sellers charge. The choice to buy or not is up to you when you bid.:tsk:


Bingo! In my opinion, there is no such thing as a rip-off on luxury goods. If someone feels they are being ripped off, they have the option of walking away. It then becomes a "rip off' only if they allow themselves to be ripped off and buy the product. At that point, I'm not sure there's any blame to be dished out.


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## GuitarDan (Nov 26, 2009)

Because time is money...


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## Alpedhuez55 (Dec 16, 2005)

It is usually about the fees. 

You sella a pipe for $1 with $24 for shiping you pay fees on the $1. 
You sell a pipe for $20 with $5 shipping you pay fees for $20. 
You sell a pipe for $25 with free shipping, you pay the fees on $25.

THe sellers are just playing games to minimize fees. 

I tried Free Shipping but I did not like paying seller fees on postage. If you are selling several small items, it can add up. If I am selling a pipe or other item, it is for whatever flat rate box I can fit the item into. If the item is expected to sell for over $100, I will add in insurance costs to shipping. International pays actual shipping. 

I do not charge extra for buble wrap, labels, gas, ect. I either reuse old boxes or buble wrap or consider it part of the expense of selling. Most of the boxes I use are free ones from the post office. If I have to buy a special package like say a poster tube or extra large box, I will consider that when I set my price.

THere are some sellers who like to sell cheaper pipes like Graybows Kaywoodie, Magic Inch...ect for $1 but with $10 shipping fees. Then they put in the auction in bold type that they do not combine shipping. I would not do business with them. I have gotten some good deals from dealers who do combine shipping in the past. 

One guy I bought had a $10 shipping fee and was selling several pipes. I emailed him asking if he combined shipping and I ended up getting 4 good estate for cheap money since nobody wanted to pay the shipping on these. So it is worth it to check.


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## rob51461 (Aug 19, 2010)

Alpedhuez55 said:


> It is usually about the fees.
> 
> You sella a pipe for $1 with $24 for shiping you pay fees on the $1.
> You sell a pipe for $20 with $5 shipping you pay fees for $20.
> ...


never looked at it that way thanks for the insight


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## Mr. Slick (Aug 17, 2010)

This is the same for most any online purchasing. Weather it be discount electronics to cars & trucks. Some places have a minimum shipping charge of around $10 no matter how small the product is, I hate it. 

I use UPS worldship at work and ship items via UPS daily. The main factor in determining shipping cost is weight & dimentions of the box. I usually add about $2 just to cover cost of the box & packing materials. Anything under 1 cubic foot and weighs less than 10-15 lbs does NOT cost $10 or more to ship UPS ground.


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## Arnie (Jan 5, 2009)

The way I figure it when I am shopping ebay is: I add up the price of the item plus shipping. If that seems worth it to me I buy the item. For instance, about 10 days ago I found an IMP Meerschaum Freehand that is beautiful for 59.99. I offered 40 dollars and the seller took it. With shipping it was 50 dollars, well worth the price. Now if it would get here, already!!

I also bought a pipe stand/humidor for 10 bucks with 10 dollars shipping. It's really nice, not a scratch on it. The actual shipping was 7.50 so the seller made an extra 2.50. No problem, I like the pipe stand and I liked the price.

Also, on Amazon, many things have free shipping if they cost over 25 dollars. So I don't pay sales tax and don't pay shipping on those items. What's not to like,,,, as long as I do my research and don't over pay, I'm happy.

Bottom line is: do your research and set a price in your mind that is pleasing to you, and don't go over that price. Your life will be fulfilling and you'll be very happy.


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## plexiprs (Nov 18, 2005)

Arnie said:


> The actual shipping was 7.50 so the seller made an extra 2.50.


The shipping fee may have been $7.50, but if the seller had to buy packaging, boxes, labels, tape, then take it to a drop off point he might have lost money.

I worked with a guy that sold handmade items on e*ay and charge $5 shipping anywhere in the US using flat-rate Priority Mail boxes. He would label them from the online service and then drop them at his local Post Office. He made four trips a week to the PO and it was 23 miles one way from his remote'ish house. Factor time, gas, and wear and tear and he was loosing big time.

Now he sells only to a few retailers and even though his per unit price went down he is not driving all over.


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## Arnie (Jan 5, 2009)

plexiprs said:


> The shipping fee may have been $7.50, but if the seller had to buy packaging, boxes, labels, tape, then take it to a drop off point he might have lost money.
> 
> I worked with a guy that sold handmade items on e*ay and charge $5 shipping anywhere in the US using flat-rate Priority Mail boxes. He would label them from the online service and then drop them at his local Post Office. He made four trips a week to the PO and it was 23 miles one way from his remote'ish house. Factor time, gas, and wear and tear and he was loosing big time.
> 
> Now he sells only to a few retailers and even though his per unit price went down he is not driving all over.


Yea, good points.


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## marked (Jul 29, 2010)

I used to sell stuff on ebay a few years ago, also. I charged flat rate Priority Mail + an extra 50 cents to cover the cost of the packing materials I used and for the effort of running it to the post office. 

I won't buy from someone that is obviously inflating their shipping costs.


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## rob51461 (Aug 19, 2010)

???


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## s1mp13m4n (Aug 19, 2010)

I agree with the OP. A pipe does not have much weight to it, so it should ship rather inexpensively. It bothers me when you find something you want and then it has very high shipping rates attached to the item.


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## perry7762 (Jul 27, 2010)

yea i dont get that, if you want more money make the starting bid higher. i did kinda get screwed onece though. i sold a computer on ebay and put the shipping price as 30 dollars and it ended up costing me like 75 friggin dollars to ship the damn thing. definately doing a little more research next time


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## Siriusnorm (Aug 24, 2010)

I'm just getting in to collecting pipes and ebay is where I go. I went a little crazy and won 8 pipes last weekend! Here is a break down on shipping:

Vintage Dr.Grabow and York Old Briar in custom box, paid $8.95 shipping

Savinelli Deluxe, paid $6 shipping but he refunded because he was slow getting it out!

Hardcastle Super Grain, $6.30 shipping

Medico Brylon (not sure what I was thinking!) shipping $2.50

Peterson Dublin, shipping $7.89 airmail Canada

Dr. Grabow Starfire, shipping $3.00

2 more Dr. Grabow's $3.97 each.

The price was right and the shipping for the most part was right! I hate paying more than $6 and will be watching for more deals on ebay!


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## Siriusnorm (Aug 24, 2010)

Okay I just sold 2 pipes on ebay and there maybe something to the high shipping cost here:

Sold a Medico pipe for $10.50 and charged $1.50 shipping. I had a box already and stuffing so no need to charge anymore. This is what gets me. eBay charged me .25 to list at a $5.00 starting price and once it sold for $10.50 charged me .95 and using ****** to get the payment they charged .65. So a total of $1.85 in fees. So my net was $8.65. The fees between eBay and ****** = 17.6%! 

Sold a Willard pipe for $5.00 and $1.50 for shipping. Had box to ship so not loss their. Between ebay and ****** fees $1.19 = 23%! Net was $3.81. 

I know you will always have fess but 17% to 23%! Maybe there is something to adding a little more to shipping. I'm not talking about ripping people off. I could have charges $2.50 shipping and that is still a great shipping cost!


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## plexiprs (Nov 18, 2005)

Now calculate it if you had charged a flat $6 for Shipping and _Handling_. What percent what your take be then????

;-)

Play with variables at places like: http://www.rolbe.com/ebay.htm


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## RowdyBriarPiper (Dec 30, 2008)

marked said:


> I used to sell stuff on ebay a few years ago, also. I charged flat rate Priority Mail + an extra 50 cents to cover the cost of the packing materials I used and for the effort of running it to the post office.


I sold a pipe on ebay not too long ago for real cheap (under $10) and used one of the USPS flat rate boxes to ship (and like you added a measly $.50 to that rate to cover materials, time/gas to take to the post office, etc.) and the dude still had the nerve to claim "SHIPPING WAS HIGH" in his feedback.


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## RowdyBriarPiper (Dec 30, 2008)

s1mp13m4n said:


> I agree with the OP. A pipe does not have much weight to it, so it should ship rather inexpensively. It bothers me when you find something you want and then it has very high shipping rates attached to the item.


What bothers me is when people will charge a premium for shipping and then use extremely minimal effort in packaging the pipe, making it obvious they are just using the higher shipping costs as a profit center. I bought from one otherwise reputable ebay pipe seller who charged a higher than average rate for shipping (don't remember the exact price offhand) and then shipped the pipe in the cheap little pipe box the pipe was sold in!


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

RowdyBriarPiper said:


> I sold a pipe on ebay not too long ago for real cheap (under $10) and used one of the USPS flat rate boxes to ship (and like you added a measly $.50 to that rate to cover materials, time/gas to take to the post office, etc.) and the dude still had the nerve to claim "SHIPPING WAS HIGH" in his feedback.


As a seller, that would annoy me. You know what the shipping is before you bid; why bid if it bothers you? If you DON'T know what the shipping is before you bid, you should probably complain to someone else. I haven't kept up with the latest trends in the nature vs nurture argument, so I'm not sure if it would be your parents or those around you...


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## RowdyBriarPiper (Dec 30, 2008)

MarkC said:


> As a seller, that would annoy me. You know what the shipping is before you bid; why bid if it bothers you? If you DON'T know what the shipping is before you bid, you should probably complain to someone else. I haven't kept up with the latest trends in the nature vs nurture argument, so I'm not sure if it would be your parents or those around you...


I couldn't help but wonder what the guy would have thought was a fair shipping price. Ship it to him for less than it cost me? It was like he just made up a figure in his head that he thought it should cost (not like it's that hard to figure out what the actual USPS flat rate is) and then was upset that he got that number wrong.


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## cubanrob19 (Jun 15, 2010)

thats why whenever I sell something on ebay, I factor in the shipping cost in the price Im selling and then put "FREE SHIPPING" everywhere on my listing! It gets all the suckers to bite! lol


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

The problem with that approach is that you end up paying ebay a fee for your shipping. I sold CDs for a while on eBay and found that my bottom line was a lot better listing for a penny with $1.99 shipping than listing at $2.00 with no shipping. Why give eBay a bigger cut?


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## plexiprs (Nov 18, 2005)

RowdyBriarPiper said:


> I couldn't help but wonder what the guy would have thought was a fair shipping price. Ship it to him for less than it cost me? It was like he just made up a figure in his head that he thought it should cost (not like it's that hard to figure out what the actual USPS flat rate is) and then was upset that he got that number wrong.


Some buyers feel that a low cost item should ship for free or nearly free. They really have no clue about the costs of packing, shipping, etc. They buy a $5 item and want to pay $1 shipping ...... tell them hit WalMart and see if they get it for $5 .....


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## Tarks (Mar 3, 2009)

Most people selling on Ebay are running a business. It makes perfect sense to overcharge on shipping, at least for me.


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